Saturday, March 14, 2009

I received a package in the mail today from my friend I've known since high school. We talk on the phone every so often, perhaps 4 or 5 times a year, but we've always seemed to have an internal radar when it comes to sensing when it's time to get in touch with each other. And we have that uncanny way of picking up right where we left off, no matter how long of an interval it has been since our last conversation. A few weeks ago my cell phone rang and noticing the area code, I automatically thought it was a call from our grandson who would be asking for his grandpa, and handed the phone to my husband. When he answered, instead of hearing an 8 year old on the other end, a man's voice asked for me by name. When I answered, I immediately recognized the voice of my friend's brother on the other end. A bit of panic caught me for a moment, until he explained that she was in the next room and did not know he was calling. He said he wanted to tell me why he called and then he would hand the phone over to her. He told me she had arrived at his house earlier and my name had come up in their conversation and they spent a few minutes reminiscing about old times. Later, as he walked into the kitchen to make a phone call, he found a piece of cardboard and when he went to pick it up, it had my name and number on the back of it. That was the reason for his call to me he said. He took it as a sign that his sister and I were supposed to talk that night.

As usual, it was good to hear her voice and we talked for a long time. One of the things we discussed was my recent craving for chai tea that I had only recently tasted. Having worked at an Indian restaurant while she was in college, she shared the recipe with me that called for cardamon pods, of which I had never seen. We also talked of diets, sugar and her latest obsession with pistachio cakes, again something I had never seen. We also discussed books, her favorite author and communication from her younger sister and mother who both passed over within the past few years.

This special friend and I were born on the same day, exactly 9 hours apart, 9 states apart, and on the 9th day of the 9th month, in '54. We have always referred to each other as our astrological twin. Perhaps that's the reason for our special way of communication.

3 comments:

Friendships seem to be there when we need them. As for chai I also love and I also blog with two women from different parts of India. Although both seem to favor Darjeeling tea for most of the time it seems the sweet spiced milk chai (chai actually means tea) has many recipes. Each family in India seems to have their special recipe for making Chai with different spice combinations but they all have cardamon in one form or another and almost all use black tea. I love it iced in the summer and hot in the winter.